This is a DLC to Outer Wilds the same way Majora's Mask was to Ocarina of Time; that is to say, it isn't. Reasonable minds will differ on whether this is artistically superior to the base game or not; I, for one, believe Outer Wilds to be the more consistent game in terms of quality, where Echoes has larger peaks and valleys; while I didn't out-right dislike anything about Outer Wilds, there are things I dislike about this game. Conversely, though, there's nothing in Outer Wilds I like more than what I like about Echoes. What's important here is that, whatever Mobius needed to accomplish to solidify their design credentials, they achieved with a seemingly effortless confidence. This smaller-scale, stygian successor to the design philosophies of the base game manages to somehow improve the overall Outer Wilds experience.
3 Comments
@FranzMagitek "Could you go further in depth on how you feel Echoes improves the experience as a whole? I'm p interested as someone who did not like it"
I would love to fully, but I feel it would detract from the player experience and don't wish to accidentally spoil it for you or anyone reading. In as vague terms as possible: I think Echoes better informs the history of this solar system than the base game, and further strengthens its ending and themes; I had some (minor) reservations about the overly-sentimental tone of base game's ending originally, but with Echoes it feels more earned. More than that, the remixing of core concepts in the DLC, such as the individual villages functioning as stand-ins for the planets, a raft instead of a space ship, or the slide reels instead of the translations as the information delivery method, are all really unique and fun ideas they use to great effect; the slide reels in particular I see as a stroke of genius, and do away with the more interpretative nature of the text in the base games. Of course, Echoes is a mystery on a much smaller scale than that of the base game, so each village can't possibly hope to stand in for a planet.
As I said in response to your review, I echo many of your sentiments in the "mid-game" section of the DLC (again, trying to be vague, but you mentioned it in the third paragraph of your review.) All I can say is that I'm glad I continued, because whatever issues I had were offset by developments made after that portion of the game.
Even if Echoes was substantially worse than it is, I don't think it's anywhere near harming the base game's quality; there's enough here to scratch the same itch as the base game, even if it's not to the same degree.
Granted, I only completed it a few days ago. I'm still sitting with it, but I've gone back and forth between which I prefer, the base game or Echoes, about 3 or 4 times already. Only time will tell. I hope I've been helpful! Go finish it already!
I would love to fully, but I feel it would detract from the player experience and don't wish to accidentally spoil it for you or anyone reading. In as vague terms as possible: I think Echoes better informs the history of this solar system than the base game, and further strengthens its ending and themes; I had some (minor) reservations about the overly-sentimental tone of base game's ending originally, but with Echoes it feels more earned. More than that, the remixing of core concepts in the DLC, such as the individual villages functioning as stand-ins for the planets, a raft instead of a space ship, or the slide reels instead of the translations as the information delivery method, are all really unique and fun ideas they use to great effect; the slide reels in particular I see as a stroke of genius, and do away with the more interpretative nature of the text in the base games. Of course, Echoes is a mystery on a much smaller scale than that of the base game, so each village can't possibly hope to stand in for a planet.
As I said in response to your review, I echo many of your sentiments in the "mid-game" section of the DLC (again, trying to be vague, but you mentioned it in the third paragraph of your review.) All I can say is that I'm glad I continued, because whatever issues I had were offset by developments made after that portion of the game.
Even if Echoes was substantially worse than it is, I don't think it's anywhere near harming the base game's quality; there's enough here to scratch the same itch as the base game, even if it's not to the same degree.
Granted, I only completed it a few days ago. I'm still sitting with it, but I've gone back and forth between which I prefer, the base game or Echoes, about 3 or 4 times already. Only time will tell. I hope I've been helpful! Go finish it already!
I'll think about it. I respect those who like the game and i'm glad the team got to make an expansion to Outer Wilds that it seems a lot of people enjoyed. But man, my attachment to the first is so huge that it really started to chip away at me once I entered the scary zone.
But some thing you mentioned I also loved. The first time you enter The Passenger and the raft drops? Soooo incredible. I also found the reels to be very creepy and the tone of the area changing as you come closer to finding out the truth is haunting. I like some stuff I've read about the ending (I couldn't help but see lol) I think could be very interesting but atm I'm not quite sure I completely align with the story they're trying to portray with the owls. However your engagement in it has my interest in Echoes spike a bit so it's back on my mind, thx for elaborating on ur perspective
But some thing you mentioned I also loved. The first time you enter The Passenger and the raft drops? Soooo incredible. I also found the reels to be very creepy and the tone of the area changing as you come closer to finding out the truth is haunting. I like some stuff I've read about the ending (I couldn't help but see lol) I think could be very interesting but atm I'm not quite sure I completely align with the story they're trying to portray with the owls. However your engagement in it has my interest in Echoes spike a bit so it's back on my mind, thx for elaborating on ur perspective
FranzMagitek
1 year ago